Mikey Garcia faces Elio Rojas tonight

By Boxing News - 07/30/2016 - Comments

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(Photo credit Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) By Dan Ambrose: After 2 ½ years out of the ring, Mikey Garcia will be fighting tonight against Elio Rojas at the Barclays center in Brooklyn, New York. Garcia, 28, is starting his career over after a long period of time outside of the ring. Garcia-Rojas will be on the undercard of the Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton fight card on Showtime Boxing.

This fight is a long ways away from the potential fights that Garcia could have had with his old promoters at Top Rank. Had Garcia stayed with them, he likely would have already fought Manny Pacquiao and gotten a big payday from that fight.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was interested in putting Garcia in with Pacquiao in the past. But with Garcia choosing to leave Top Rank, that took away any chance of him getting that fight. Garcia now is talking about eventually facing the likes of Terence Crawford. That’s a fight that is far removed from the kind of money that Garcia could have had if he had fought Pacquiao.

Garcia fought last on January 25, 2014, beating Juan Carlos Burgos by a 12 round unanimous.
Rojas has decent punching power that he can test Mikey with, but he’s been out of the ring for two years. Rojas will struggle with the pace of the fight, and he likely will fall apart if the fight goes to the second half of the contest.

The major question in the minds of many fans is whether Garcia can get back to where he was previously with his career. When Garcia last fought, he was looking really good and on his way to superstardom. However, with Garcia out of the ring for close to three year, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be able to come back to be the fighter that he once was.

Garcia thinks he can start in where he left off from 2014. That would be surprising if Garcia can do that. One thing that will likely be unchanged his Garcia’s punching power. He’ll still have his power, but his timing, reflexes, and stamina likely will take a hit. There’s also the question whether Garcia’s punching power will carry up to the light welterweight division. He last fought at super featherweight in 2014. He’ll now be fighting 10 pounds heavier than that in the 140lb division.

“I expect to pick up right where I left off. I was a world champion, I was undefeated, and I still am. I didn’t leave because I was injured. I think I’ll come back even better. I’m hungrier now than I was before,” said Garcia to espn.com.

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Even if Garcia is the same fighter he once was, it’s going to be hard for him to make things happen in the 140lb division or even at 135. There are a lot of good fighters in those divisions, and they can punch just like he can. Garcia might have missed his opportunity to become a star with his inactivity.

Rojas would do well to put a lot of pressure on Garcia to test his stamina in this one. Orlando Salido gave Mikey problems in their fight in 2013. Salido was starting to get to Garcia in the 8th round when the fight was halted after he suffered a broken nose. There were some who felt that Garcia’s trainer Robert Garcia saw that the tide of the fight had changed, and that Salido was starting to wear him down.